'Emerald cut' shape probably the result of two galaxies colliding
(NEWSER) - The vast majority of galaxies fall into one of three categories—football-shaped, irregular, or a disc with spiral arms. But LEDA 074886 is a strange one. When viewed from our planet, the dwarf galaxy has a strange, rectangular, "emerald cut" shape. Its discoverers believe the galaxy is shaped like a cylinder, and we are seeing it from the side, National Geographic reports. "The alternative shape, a cube, seems too bizarre to contemplate," says the leader of the team that spotted the boxy galaxy. More»